How are intellectual property and trademark rights viewed in your organization?

Our reader poll today asks: How are intellectual property and trademark rights viewed in your organization?

• They’re sacred and should never be violated 70.74%
• One should be careful not to violate them but … sometimes it happens 22.57%
• It’s not a big deal if you’re not overly obvious about violating them 4.87%
• Who cares? It’s imaginary stuff anyway 1.82%

Respecting IP and trademarks. Just because they’re “invisible” doesn’t mean they can’t be stolen. For the 7% of you who say it’s not a big deal to violate IP or trademarks or that one doesn’t need to care, think again. There are stiff penalties for violating IP and trademarks including fines, lawsuits, sanctions, and other unpleasant consequences of not respecting the rights someone has to something they created. In the moment it might not seem like a big deal to use that picture, song, video, or proprietary framework but when the trademark holder finds out, you could find yourself in a heap of trouble. Also consider the fact that you’re stealing – you’re using the work of another person without appropriately compensating them for their creation. Do the right thing – respect IP and trademarks. Pay for licensed versions of content or don’t use it if it’s not allowed to be used for your purposes. You’d want the same respect for your work if you were the creator. Save yourself the headaches and respect the IP of others.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.